Whippet buses Cambridgeshire

[hdennis13]

What are people's opinions of whippet bus? Were the 18 and 66 better run under stagecoach? I have experienced many cancellations without warning and their customer service is appalling and many of their buses sound like they will fall apart!

Hopefully with new mellor, guided buses will provide an improvement, along with their six point action plan for the 18.
https://www.cambridgeindependent.co...bridgeshire-bus-operator-over-number-9338322/

A bus operator has produced a six-point action plan in a bid to improve the service it provides after complaints over unreliability.

Operator Whippet faced members of the public at a meeting at the Belfry Hotel in Cambourne on Monday (October 30).

The meeting was called amid fears that young people’s safety and education is being put at risk due to problems with the number 18 Cambridge to St Neots service, which is run by Whippet.

Students and staff travelling from Cambourne to Comberton Village College use the service, which either fails to turn up or is cancelled at short notice.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority mayor Dr Nik Johnson attended the meeting and has also independently raised concerns with Whippet.

He said: “We have listened carefully to residents’ concerns about the level of service bus operator, Whippet, has been providing. I understand the frustration felt when you are unable to get to where you need to go.

“Absolutely no-one benefits from late services or cancellations. Residents face difficult journeys and Whippet face fines. It is within everyone’s interest to get the current level of service improved.”

Speaking after the meeting, Dr Johnson added: “I was very grateful for the chance to meet in person as it’s clearly the best way to properly understand each other, and I was particularly pleased that the community got to hear first-hand from Whippet about their plans to improve services. As for next steps, we’ll keep a close watch, stay in contact with residents, and continue our efforts to reform bus services region-wide.”

Whippet’s plan includes investing in their fleet, launching a new website and mobile map with a live tracker and continuing to recruit drivers.

One of the key barriers Whippet is facing is a severe driver shortage, so the plan also includes assessing the potential use of agency drivers as a short-term solution.

The number 18 service is the only one available to students and staff travelling from Cambourne and Cambridge to Comberton.

Whippet took over the route in October last year after Stagecoach East withdrew in September. Stagecoach said the route was not viable.

The route is also subsidised by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, who agreed to continue with that support in September.

 

[Titfield]

What are people's opinions of whippet bus? Were the 18 and 66 better run under stagecoach? I have experienced many cancellations without warning and their customer service is appalling and many of their buses sound like they will fall apart!

Hopefully with new mellor, guided buses will provide an improvement, along with their six point action plan for the 18.
https://www.cambridgeindependent.co...bridgeshire-bus-operator-over-number-9338322/

Part of the problem is that if a driver fails to turn up for work then services have to be cancelled for the obvious reason. Having stand by drivers is quite expensive (if you can recruit more drivers than you need to cover all the duties) and somewhat perversely can encourage drivers to fail to turn up for work.

If a driver resigns then typically they leave within a shorter time span than a new member of staff can be recruited and trained.

Unfortunately buses rattle irrespective of who builds them. It doesnt mean they will fall apart though.

 

[Contains Nuts]

I travelled on one of their FlixBus services to London a few months ago and it was one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve had on public transport, with both of the drivers seeming to think they were boy racers - tailgating cars, flashing lights at the vehicle in front, undertaking, slamming brakes on at the last minute at junctions.

I wrote to both Whippet and FlixBus to complain and never heard a thing from either of them so that just about sums up their attitude to how they run their business.

I know bus companies are all struggling for staff at the moment, but from my experience Whippet would rather have a dangerous driver than no driver.

 

[urpert]

Back in the early naughties their fleet was almost entirely ex-London Titans. Made for an interesting experience when the drivers floored it on the A14.

 

[riceuten]

I worked in Huntingdon for a good part of the early 2000s and Whippet at that point had a depot in Huntingdon, near the railway. Whippet were regarded as a "local" firm and people preferred them to Stagecoach, but their reliability and the state of their buses was variable. One of the issues has been when a bus breaks down that a replacement - if it can be provided - takes quite some time to make it from the new depot in Fenstanton.

 

[paulmch]

The U service buses are very smart and seem to run reasonably well, but the rest of their network is a complete shambles. Really gives off the vibes of a company just barely clinging on to solvency by their fingertips.

 

[CBlue]

I worked in Huntingdon for a good part of the early 2000s and Whippet at that point had a depot in Huntingdon, near the railway. Whippet were regarded as a "local" firm and people preferred them to Stagecoach, but their reliability and the state of their buses was variable. One of the issues has been when a bus breaks down that a replacement - if it can be provided - takes quite some time to make it from the new depot in Fenstanton.

Whippet never had a depot in Huntingdon, being based at Hilton and then at Fenstanton before moving to Swavesey (Stagecoach bought the old Fenstanton depot to operate Busway routes from)

You are likely thinking of Huntingdon & District / Cavalier Contracts who operated out of the old United Counties depot on Stukeley Road in Huntingdon, who bought the Huntingdon operations after Stagecoach was forced to sell them off by the competition authorities (I believe Julian Peddle was an owner in between).


As for Whippet? Look past the U services and they're a mess, somehow managing to make the scrappy efforts of Stagecoach East look halfway decent....the former owner Peter Lee definitely timed it right to sell up!

 

[MasterSpenny]

Whippet has received Volvo BZL demo BV72KPF for a trial for a few weeks. Ed Cameron, commercial manager of Whippets has posted this:

https://x.com/edward_cameron/status/1751976451815968885?s=20

We're trialling the
@VolvoBusUK
BZL at Swavesey for a few weeks. It's an impressive vehicle with a a bright and spacious interior - look out for it on our X3

 

[hdennis13]

Whippet have announced new 18a services every 2h between Cambridge Drummer Street and Lower Cambourne bypassing Grantchester and Kingston using funding from CPCA.

More buses on route 18

www.whippetbus.co.uk

Starting on 2 September 2024, we'll be running more buses on route 18 - thanks to funding made available by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

The new journeys - numbered 18A - will run between Cambridge, Comberton and Cambourne with some journeys specifically timed to serve Comberton Village College at key times.

There will also be one additional morning peak-time bus from St Neots on school days.

Interim manager Edward Cameron also suggested improvements to route X3 are on the way this year.

https://twitter.com/edward_cameron/status/1819443822289387904?t=DdvNn45l93kBm-GGTrIvBQ&s=19